Scare at Vagina Monologues Rehearsal

Wednesday night of last week, Springfield College Public Safety Officers were called to the scene of Vagina Monologues rehearsal after some members of the show’s cast noticed an unidentified man walking around inside Fuller Arts Center.

The cast called Public Safety to ask for an escort back to their dorms/living spaces, but did not request an investigation of the unidentified man who they had seen inside of the building.

According to one of the senior cast members who wished to remain anonymous, a man had been seen on the premises back-to-back days.

“There was an unfamiliar man that came into the girls’ dressing room who had no name tag and no Springfield attire seen by some of our cast members,” the source said.

No calls were made to Public Safety when an unidentified individual first appeared on Tuesday. On Wednesday, when an unidentified individual showed up again (it is unclear if the same man showed up on both days) the cast called to ask for an escort back to their dorms.

“We went to go see who it was,” the source said of the individual. “He was in the car and the car did not leave. It kept driving back and forth.”

A second source, who also wished to remain anonymous, cited that the man went as far as to go into the green room during rehearsal.

“She (a cast member) had been in the green room doing some homework, and she told me that he had come in and looked around in the green room and didn’t say anything to her,” the second source said. “So it was apparent that this guy was walking around when there was no other male there to kind of protect us or just be there for us.”

All of this led to the cast reaching out to Public Safety to ask for an escort home. A third source was disappointed in the response that the cast got for their call.

“The one thing that bothered me is when I called public safety I told them what happened and then said we didn’t feel comfortable and wanted an officer to come over when we were leaving,” the source explained.

“The dispatcher asked how many of us there were and I said 53. He said ‘53? Oh’ and then told me to just call back when we would be leaving Fuller. When I called back, I watched the Public Safety officer drive over and he was just sitting at the end of the commuter lot. It was kinda frustrating to me that Public Safety didn’t seem concerned enough to just send the officer over right away to even sit outside the building for the 20 extra minutes until we got out.”

The same source added, “Obviously the girls were worried so it would’ve been a little more comforting if they (Public Safety) showed some level of concern. The officer didn’t even ask much when he got there besides ‘where are you going?’ and I said, ‘The girls live all over campus.’”

As of Wednesday afternoon, three Public Safety officials agreed to discuss the situation. Though they declined to be recorded on the record, they gave their own account of what transpired.

The official stance of Public Safety regarding the incident is that a call was put in asking for an escort across campus, something they do routinely. They also contended that they were asked to arrive when the girls were leaving, and at no time in advance.

It was never asked for them to conduct an investigation into a suspicious person on campus. According to Public Safety no crime was reported; if someone were to come forward they would be more than happy to investigate, but right now they do not have enough evidence to begin an investigation.

The Springfield College Public Safety emergency line can be reached at 1-413-748-5555. The non-emergency number is 1-413-748-3516.

Update (Edited February 21, 2019):

Last week The Student published a story detailing reports of a suspicious person walking around the set of the Vagina Monologues rehearsals late at night. In response to the story and subsequent claims, Springfield College Public Safety conducted a full investigation into the report including checking the cameras from the night in question. Per a meeting with Public Safety, officers informed The Student that based on the evidence gathered, they were able to determine that the individual in question was an employee of Springfield College. The employee was working his designated hours and performing his designated job and was supposed to be in that area.

Please remember that Springfield College Public Safety can be reached at their emergency line (1-413-748-5555) as well as their non emergency line (1-413-748-3516).

Published by Daniel Priest

2 comments

Thank you, Danny, for covering this story. I hope there is follow-up coverage and more explanation from Public Safety about their inadequate response. Also, I’d like to know how Public Safety will do better next time and rebuild trust that they will take students seriously who feel unsafe.

So… A call was made to Public Safety requesting an escort home. They were asked to call back when they were ready. They called back and an escort arrived. No request was made for an investigation. So what is the problem? Seems the situation was handled properly. In what way was Public Safety wrong if they did as asked?

“The one thing that bothered me is when I called public safety I told them what happened and then said we didn’t feel comfortable and wanted an officer to come over when we were leaving,” the source explained.

An officer was requested for when they were leaving. That’s what they received. If there is someone suspicious maybe next time call for assistance when said suspicious person is there. Describe person/vehicle and call. Not wait until person is gone and then have concerns when it’s time to go home.